Digital Imaging and Information Technology

• Digital medical images can be conveyed instantaneously throughout the hospital or the health care system. Images can be accessed via personal computer, laptop, or personal data assistant from virtually anywhere – the physician's office, the emergency room, the operating room, or even the physician's home. This reduces delays by cutting the time spent searching for files, film, or patient information among various departments. Also, physicians can view images when they want and where they want – providing greater flexibility.
  • Researchers from the University of Montreal Hospital found that a digital imaging archives and radiology information system cut the median time between when the image was created and when it was read by as much as 40 percent.¹

  • A digital clinical and patient information system among several Boston-area hospitals reported saving an estimated $1 million annually by, in part, reducing the time spent searching for files and the time spent on the process of admitting patients. Projected income revenues from better patient retention as a result are between $3 million and $4 million annually.²

  • The clinical information system in use at the MedStar Health hospital system in the Washington D.C./Baltimore area provides immediate access to imaging files dating from 1997. The system also allows staff to view – in less than five seconds – video of previously recorded procedures, cardiac catheterizations, or full motion echocardiograms.³ Click here to view the study

• Once a scan is completed, it can be viewed immediately, by all physicians who are involved with a case. In addition, images can be added to other electronic information – such as patient histories, physician notations, lab data – creating an electronic medical record. This eliminates multiple charts and files. It can reduce errors resulting from illegible handwriting and provides better context and detail, allowing a more-informed judgment about diagnosis and treatment planning.

• Physicians can order imaging tests electronically, rather than submitting requests by paper or by phone. This reduces time and costs for transcription, delivery, and order clarification. At Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, physicians can order imaging tests via a secure Internet site. In so doing, the time required to order such tests is reduced by as much as 85 percent.⁴

• Faster cycle times result from electronic ordering and imaging display systems. One study found that cycle times at a major university hospital dropped 43 percent for radiology orders – from 7:37 hours to 4:21 hours. In turn, reduced cycle time helps reduce a patient's length of stay and overall costs.⁵ One hospital system found that the seamless integration of medical images with complete treatment information improved clinical workflow that helped stretch resources to meet staff shortages.⁶

¹ "RIS-PACS integration delivers improved interpretation, reporting times," Erik L. Ridley, AuntMinnie.com, December 1, 2003.
² Networking Health: Prescriptions for the Internet, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, p. 81, 2000.
³ "Digital Hospitals Move Off the Drawing Board," prepared by the First Consulting Group for the California HealthCare Foundation, p. 9, October 2003.
⁴ "How E-Hospitals Can Save Your Life: When Hospitals Computerize Patient Care, They Drastically Reduce Errors and Costs," by William Symonds, E-Biz Special Report, Business Week, December 11, 2000
⁵ Testimony before the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health, House Committee on Ways and Means, by Donald Rucker, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corporation, March 6, 2002.
⁶ California Health Care Foundation, op. cit.